No city has been more important to the health of the watch industry in recent years than Hong Kong. Largely unhindered by China’s “one country, two systems” agreement, it’s been the destination of more timepieces than entire countries, let alone cities, as a glance at official Swiss export figures reveals.

It’s a trend that began a decade back and until September this year was still the case, as Hong Kong accounted for a pacesetting CHF2 billion ($2.9 billion) worth of Swiss watches in the first nine months of 2019.